Sequart Organization » Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org
advancing comics as artSat, 10 Mar 2018 13:50:53 +0000enhourly1Advance Review: Blood of the Fourhttp://sequart.org/magazine/68140/advance-review-blood-of-the-four/
http://sequart.org/magazine/68140/advance-review-blood-of-the-four/#commentsTue, 16 Jan 2018 18:46:41 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=68140(I am a Harper Voyager Super reader: the publishing house HarperVoyager gives me free advance copies of upcoming science-fiction and fantasy titles, and in return I write honest reviews. This is my first such review… [more]]]>04 3 2 1: Paul Auster’s New Postmodern Masterpiecehttp://sequart.org/magazine/66457/4-3-2-1-paul-auster%e2%80%99s-new-postmodern-masterpiece/
http://sequart.org/magazine/66457/4-3-2-1-paul-auster%e2%80%99s-new-postmodern-masterpiece/#commentsWed, 05 Apr 2017 18:30:28 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=66457First, turn off your computer or smart phone—yes, right now—grab 4 3 2 1, and plow straight through it. True, it’s almost 900 pages long, but trust me, you won’t want it to end. I’ll… [more]]]>0Money and Trade at the End of the Worldhttp://sequart.org/magazine/65366/money-and-trade-at-the-end-of-the-world/
http://sequart.org/magazine/65366/money-and-trade-at-the-end-of-the-world/#commentsWed, 14 Dec 2016 18:00:45 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=65366Every video roleplaying game has basically the same setup: shops offering increasingly powerful items and equipment accompany the path toward the final boss. You sell your junk there, make repairs, upgrade cloth armor to leather… [more]]]>0Overwatch: The Pleasures of Not Giving a Damn about the Storyhttp://sequart.org/magazine/63897/overwatch-the-pleasures-of-not-giving-a-damn-about-the-story/
http://sequart.org/magazine/63897/overwatch-the-pleasures-of-not-giving-a-damn-about-the-story/#commentsTue, 28 Jun 2016 19:20:30 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=63897Overwatch, launched just a month ago, is a new MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) in which teams of six human-controlled players battle six-person teams controlled by humans or the computer, your choice. Each player chooses… [more]]]>1Science Fiction Elements of Infinite Jest: Part 3, Subsidized Timehttp://sequart.org/magazine/63634/science-fiction-elements-of-infinite-jest-part-3-subsidized-time/
http://sequart.org/magazine/63634/science-fiction-elements-of-infinite-jest-part-3-subsidized-time/#commentsSat, 14 May 2016 15:00:39 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=63634The twentieth-anniversary rereading and discussion of the greatest novel ever written, David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, has just ended. The discussion continues, and this is part of it. Many thousands of fans worldwide including me… [more]]]>0Science Fiction Elements of Infinite Jest: Part 2, Giant Feral Hamsters and Infantshttp://sequart.org/magazine/63176/science-fiction-elements-of-infinite-jest-part-2-giant-feral-hamsters-and-infants/
http://sequart.org/magazine/63176/science-fiction-elements-of-infinite-jest-part-2-giant-feral-hamsters-and-infants/#commentsMon, 28 Mar 2016 15:00:56 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=63176A worldwide reread of the greatest novel ever written, David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, is currently underway, celebrating twenty years since its first publication. “Infinite Winter” began January 31; readers consume about 75 pages per… [more]]]>0Sid and Marty Krofft’s Wormholes to Hellhttp://sequart.org/magazine/61737/sid-and-marty-krofft%e2%80%99s-wormholes-to-hell/
http://sequart.org/magazine/61737/sid-and-marty-krofft%e2%80%99s-wormholes-to-hell/#commentsTue, 15 Dec 2015 21:00:20 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=61737If you’re an American of a certain age, chances are you fondly remember the weird and wonderful worlds dreamed up by Sid and Marty Krofft—especially H. R. Pufnstuf, Lidsville, and Land of the Lost. Those… [more]]]>1Ernest Cline’s Armada: One Remove Too Manyhttp://sequart.org/magazine/59106/ernest-cline%e2%80%99s-armada-one-remove-too-many/
http://sequart.org/magazine/59106/ernest-cline%e2%80%99s-armada-one-remove-too-many/#commentsSat, 25 Jul 2015 11:00:24 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=59106At last, Ernest Cline, best-selling author of Ready Player One, has released his second novel, Armada. RPO was so fun to read, and so perfectly constructed, that its follow-up was bound to be disappointing. And… [more]]]>0Superhero Fever Strikes India: Maharakshak Aryan on Zee TVhttp://sequart.org/magazine/55948/superhero-fever-strikes-india-maharakshak-aryan-zee-tv/
http://sequart.org/magazine/55948/superhero-fever-strikes-india-maharakshak-aryan-zee-tv/#commentsTue, 10 Mar 2015 11:00:54 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=55948You can hardly swing an unconscious henchman without hitting a superhero in American popular culture these days. Solo and in teams, superheroes dominate our comics and movies; they’re making rapid inroads on television too, on… [more]]]>0John Scalzi’s Lock In: Fifty Pounds of Story in a Twenty-Pound Sackhttp://sequart.org/magazine/52316/john-scalzi-lock-in-review/
http://sequart.org/magazine/52316/john-scalzi-lock-in-review/#commentsSat, 29 Nov 2014 12:00:29 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=52316Lock In, the new science fiction novel by Hugo winner John Scalzi, boasts the density of a red dwarf. It’s a hardboiled detective novel, and a surprisingly plausible “future history,” and an exploration of identity… [more]]]>0The Circle by Dave Eggers: Let’s All “Like” Our Transparent Dystopia!http://sequart.org/magazine/51469/the-circle-dave-eggers-review/
http://sequart.org/magazine/51469/the-circle-dave-eggers-review/#commentsThu, 30 Oct 2014 11:00:10 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=51469[Note: This article contains many spoilers; it would be impossible to write without them. Also, The Circle was published a full year ago, and it explores social media’s effects on knowledge, socializing, privacy, and politics—as… [more]]]>1Science Fiction Elements of Infinite Jest: Part 1, Videophonyhttp://sequart.org/magazine/49050/scifi-infinite-jest-part-1-videophony/
http://sequart.org/magazine/49050/scifi-infinite-jest-part-1-videophony/#commentsMon, 18 Aug 2014 17:00:07 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=49050David Foster Wallace’s 1996 novel Infinite Jest is, for my money, the greatest novel ever written. It appears regularly near the top of “best novels of all time” lists such as Time Magazine’s. It has… [more]]]>0Basic Instructions Creator Now Writes Novelshttp://sequart.org/magazine/48778/basic-instructions-creator-now-writes-novels/
http://sequart.org/magazine/48778/basic-instructions-creator-now-writes-novels/#commentsSat, 09 Aug 2014 11:00:01 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=48778Many of you Sequart readers already know Scott Meyer from his popular webcomic Basic Instructions. The comic is thoroughly venerable by internet standards, having written and posted it since 2003. Here is a fairly typical… [more]]]>0An Open Reply to Fantasy Author Patrick Rothfusshttp://sequart.org/magazine/47428/an-open-reply-to-fantasy-author-patrick-rothfuss/
http://sequart.org/magazine/47428/an-open-reply-to-fantasy-author-patrick-rothfuss/#commentsSun, 06 Jul 2014 15:00:08 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=47428Patrick, In your most recent blog post, you replied to an article that I wrote for Sequart, “Six Reasons Why the Kingkiller Chronicle is the Next Game of Thrones.” You wrote: “Over the years, I’ve been… [more]]]>0Stunt Writing Yields a Brilliant Novel: Dave Eggers’s Newesthttp://sequart.org/magazine/47212/stunt-writing-yields-a-brilliant-novel-dave-eggers/
http://sequart.org/magazine/47212/stunt-writing-yields-a-brilliant-novel-dave-eggers/#commentsThu, 03 Jul 2014 15:00:17 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=47212Imagine you’re a novelist who gambles. You lose a big bet, and the buddy you lost to decides to make your writing life incredibly difficult. He sets these restrictions for your next novel, and as… [more]]]>0Sword-and-Sorcery Movies: They Just Don’t Make Them Like That Anymorehttp://sequart.org/magazine/46357/sword-and-sorcery-movies/
http://sequart.org/magazine/46357/sword-and-sorcery-movies/#commentsSun, 22 Jun 2014 19:00:48 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=46357Remember films like Conan the Barbarian, Labyrinth, and The Sword and the Sorcerer? Fantasy movies of the late 1970s and early 80s with lots of swords and sorcery, where the good guys always won? Remember… [more]]]>2Review of Joshua Ferris’s To Rise Again at a Decent Hourhttp://sequart.org/magazine/45961/review-of-to-rise-again-at-a-decent-hour/
http://sequart.org/magazine/45961/review-of-to-rise-again-at-a-decent-hour/#commentsThu, 12 Jun 2014 15:00:46 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=45961Joshua Ferris just released his third novel, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, and like his previous two, this one is insightful, fascinating, and just a hair’s breadth short of perfect. Better than any… [more]]]>0Six Reasons Why the Kingkiller Chronicle is the Next Game of Throneshttp://sequart.org/magazine/45682/six-reasons-why-the-kingkiller-chronicle-is-the-next-game-of-thrones/
http://sequart.org/magazine/45682/six-reasons-why-the-kingkiller-chronicle-is-the-next-game-of-thrones/#commentsTue, 10 Jun 2014 17:00:56 +0000Brian Cowlishawhttp://sequart.org/?p=45682Everyone knows about Game of Thrones – seriously, everyone. Fantasy fiction fans can gloat that they’ve known about it since 1996, when George R. R. Martin published the first Thrones novel. The HBO series has… [more]]]>4